Social Media and Criticism

Aside from search engines, the most visited sites in the world are social media: the old mainstays Facebook and Twitter. Their impact on film culture and cinephilia has been profound, giving voice to people who were formerly outside of the established critical conversation, but also providing a new outlet for seasoned critics. However, not all of the changes fostered by social media have been positive: hasty and reductive festival “takes,” the performative nature of “callout culture,” and straight-up trolling, to name but a few. To discuss and elaborate upon ideas from Nick Pinkerton’s feature on social media and criticism in the September/October issue, Digital Editor Violet Lucca was joined by Pinkerton, Kameron Collins of The Ringer, and Mark Harris of Vulture for this episode.